Edwin e



(No Model.)

vE. E. PRATT & G. S. PARTRIDGE.

STEREOTYPE OASTING BOX.

I V l UNITE STATES ATENT FFICE? EDlVIN E. PRATT AND CHARLES S. PARTRIDGE, OF CHICAGO, ILL. ASSIGNORS TO THE A. N. KELLOGG NEWSPAPER COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

S'I 'EREOTYPE-CASTING BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334,048, dated January 12, 1886.

Application filed AprilElS, 1883. Serial No. 92.544.

T at whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWIN E. PRATT and CHARLES SPARTRIDGE, citizens of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Stereotype- Casting Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

In those stereotype-casting machines which are employed to cast stereotype matter upon wood backs or blocks, it has been customary to hold the wood during the operation by friction only, such friction being exerted upon the edges of the block. This is practicable I 5 when the blocks are small or narrow, but is not the best method, and when the blocks are increased to large dimensionssay, for instance, to the size of two or more newspapercolumnsgrave, if not insurmountable, difficuities are met with. These are owing, first, to the impossibility of obtaining wood which will not warp when subjected to the heat in casting, the edge-friction affording no sufficient impediment thereto; second, if the block be already warped, the edge-friction does not straighten or flatten it out; third, the clamping-pressure upon the edges is very likely to spring the block or curve it; and, fourth, it is liable to be driven in unequally, so that the 0 layer of metal will be thick at some parts and correspondingly thin at others, and the combined product be of unevenheight.

To obviate these difficulties, so specially true of large plate-casting, and also true in a 5 less degree of small block-work, is the principal design of our present invention, which consists in a stereotype-casting box provided with devicesby which the block is held near the edge upon its fiat sides, substantially as 0 herein set forth, whereby the block is not only prevented from any tendency to warp or curl while in the box, but is straightened if previously curled, the casting of blocks of very large size becomesa matter of perfect ease, the

4 5 casting of matter upon separate independent blocks at one operation is permitted, and the putting in of the blocks preparatory to the casting is greatly expedited and simplified.

In the accompanying drawings, to which reference is hereby made, Figure 1 is an elevation of a stereotype-casting machine, show- (No model.)

ing the box swung into position for the reception of the metal. Fig. 2 is a section of the box upon the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section of one of the side guides. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of thebox upon line 4 4. Fig. 5 is a section of the box upon the line 5 5.

In said drawings, Arepresents the supporting-frame, and B the bottom; B, the top, and B the clamps, of the box.

C C are side guides or rails, between which the block or wood backing D is placed, and between which it was formerly clamped.

C is the head-guide or end piece, and E is a tail block or piece employed at the other end of the box from the guide C. The matrix (not shown) is placed upon the bottom, and held thereto by the guides and head-piece.

At opposite sides of the space surrounded by the parts C C, C, and E,we place supports for the wood backing, which will sustain it at a distance above the bottom B equal to the thickness desired for the stereotype, and be-, tween which supports and the top B the block will be held. These supports may consist of strips 0 c and c 6, though either a 0 alone or c 0 alone may be used, the strip Eand its ledge being supported at the proper remove from the matrix otherwise than by the ledges co in the latter case, and they may be attached to or beintegral with C Cor C and E, respectively, so as to form ledges thereon, as shown, or they may be removable and separate therefrom, or, instead of being continuous in length, they may consist of short pieces or points. They maybe located above the bottom of the box, if the block is rabbeted to correspond. An instance of this is shown in connection with the supporting-ledge e upon the tail-piece, underneath which ledge and tail-piece is a space, a, for the admission of the molten metal; or the supports may be in the form of tenons or flanges located midway of the blocks thickmess, the edges of the block being grooved or mortised to receive the same. By placing the block with the ends of its grain resting upon these supports at either pair of the opposite sides-of the box, it will be evident that when the top is clamped down the block will be very firmly held in itsplace, and that the results above described will follow. It is also evident that the supports serve to gage the admission of the block within the box, so that it is positioned with absolute accuracy by simply laying it therein. We have shown these supports upon all four sides, and prefer thus to use them generally, because we thereby straighten and hold the wood both with and across its grain. When so used, the side supports may be employed to support the tailpiece and ledge e at the proper remove from the bottom, as shown in Fig. but the tailpiece and ledge may be otherwise supported, or they may be constructed to bridge the openin a.

Another evil attending the edgeclamping, which is avoided by our invention, is this: In the old way of holding the block it is necessary to put upon it sufficient friction to prevent dislodgment previous to the application of the metal. This does not leave sufficient room for the expansion caused by the heat, and the result is that the guides are so strained as to render them useless in a short time. The tail-piece is beveled oft upon its outer edge, so as to form apart of the mouth F,into which the molten metal is delivered and from which it passes into the space a. The tail-piece is a separate and removable device, and does not act as a part of any matrix-clip or fasteningframe. It is, however,when thus constructed,

very convenient and useful.

\Ve claim 1. The stereotypecasting box consisting of top and bottom plates and the guides and head-piece, in combination with strips upon opposite sides, supported from the bottom plate, and positioned and otherwise adapted, as specified, to support the wood backing uniformly at the proper remove from the matrix, and to act in conjunction with the top to clamp the backing in the direction of its thickness, and thereby to straighten it and prevent its curling under the heat of the mold, substantially as specified.

2. The mold for casting stereotypes upon wood backs, consisting of the bottom B, top B, side rails, O O, head-guide G, tail-block E, constructed as shown, and strips 0 a, substantially as specified. 1

3. The mold for casting stereotypes upon wood backs, consisting of the bottom B, top B, side rails, O O, head-guides O, tail'block E, and strips 0 0 0'0, substantially as specified.

4. The combination, in a stereotype casting box, of the side guides and their ledges, and the tail-piece resting upon said ledges, substantially as specified.

5. The stereotype casting box provided with a removable tail-piece at the pouring end, and supports for said piece, whereby it is sustained above the pouring-channel, substantiall y as specified.

EDWIN E. PRATT. O. S. PARTRIDGE.

Witnesses:

Enw. S. EVARTS, H. M. MUNDAY. 

